This invention generally relates to systems, apparatuses, and methods for pasteurizing the surface of pre-cooked food products and, more particularly, to pasteurizing the surface of root vegetables, namely, onions.
The processing of root vegetables for added value has changed dramatically over the last 25 years, and the growth in this processing has extended from food service to restaurants and to retail. While root vegetables continue to be harvested and sold at market or in supermarket stores, there is a growing demand for convenience in utilizing root vegetables. This can be seen in supermarkets by the availability of ready meals containing root vegetables. At the back end of kitchens, root vegetables now arrive pre-cut and ready to use. Advances in mechanical handling and peeling processes have evolved to support the demand.
Over the course of the last 15 years there have been an increasing number of food product recalls related to members of the public getting sick from cross-contamination of product. In the pre-cooked delicatessen market segment, Unitherm Food Systems, Inc. (Bristow, Okla., US, and Ashford, Kent, England) has been successful at pasteurizing the surface of pre-cooked products. However, there has been a growth in cross-contamination stemming from either vegetables or produce grown in the field. One vegetable in particular, onions, has been a source of this contamination.
When root vegetables like onions are planted and then harvested, they are exposed to pathogens found in the soil and around farmland, and the root vegetables can carry those pathogens on their surface. The pathogens then have an opportunity to grow because many root vegetables are stored for months prior to being transported to places for sale, like the supermarket where the onion is fully shelled as it left the field, or to be processed for use in a further-processed food product.
When used in a further-processed food product, the onion is typically passed through a peeling process or machine like that sold by Sormac (Venlo, The Netherlands). The Sormac machine is successful at peeling but it does not clean the surface for pathogens. Additionally, the machine removes up to 10 to 20% of the weight of the onion.
Peeled onions are typically sold to a processor, like a food factory which specializes in making soup. In some cases, the processor may peel the onions for use within its own factory. Regardless of whether the onions are purchased peeled or peeled in-house, the onions are exposed to cross-contamination when being peeled. This exposure occurs when an outer surface is contacted by a blade which has a pathogen on it, and the blade transfers the pathogen into the onion. In addition, the equipment can be contaminated by the pathogen coming off the surface of the onion and onto a contact surface of the equipment. This then means that all products traveling down the contact surface can be cross-contaminated.
Absent from the market is a system and method to eliminate pathogens at the processing facility. A flame pasteurizer made and practiced according to this invention is designed to ensure product that has been picked or harvested from the field can be pasteurized before being chopped, diced, or sliced. The invention fills the essential need to ensure that mass produced foods have an intervention step that kills pathogens.